I disliked this book and the only reason I gave it one star is that I loved this author's Smilla's Sense of Snow. To me this was a loopy, nonsensical wreck of a book and I'm so glad I borrowed from the library and didn't purchase it. Disappointing. ( )

I disliked this book and the only reason I gave it one star is that I loved this author's Smilla's Sense of Snow. To me this was a loopy, nonsensical wreck of a book and I'm so glad I borrowed from the library and didn't purchase it. Disappointing. ( )

Didn't finish it! Looking at the reviews I get the feeling you either love it or hate it. I am in the second group. The most annoying thing is that there is no proper timeline. And sometimes no indication at all if you are in the past or present. I had the feeling the time of the action changes even in one paragraph. Note: " I had the feeling" because you can not be sure. This book annoyed me mostly and made me nervous. I had to force myself to not throw it in a corner. I think only the fact at it is a library copy prevented me damaging it. I guess this is some sort of modern art. Like an art installation you don't really get. ( )

Deserves more than 3 stars - very nearly four. I read the book in short bursts but not leaving too long between readings - just right as it is a bit repetitive. More head than heart but intriguing, mystic and ultimately inconclusive - which I like. Another reviewer called it "brittle intellectualism and dreamy philosophy" and that's a great description. ( )

Wikipedia in English

Set in Denmark in the here and now, The Quiet Girl centers around Kaspar Krone, a world-renowned circus clown with a deep love for the music of Johan Sebastian Bach, and an even deeper gambling debt. Wanted for tax evasion and on the verge of extradition, Krone is drafted into the service of a mysterious order of nuns who promise him reprieve from the international authorities in return for his help safeguarding a group of children with mystical abilities—abilities that Krone also shares. When one of the children goes missing, Krone sets off to find the young girl and bring her back, making a shocking series of discoveries along the way about her identity and the true intentions of his young wards. The result is a fast-paced, philosophical thriller blending social realism with the literary fantastic and pitting art and spirituality against corporate interests and nothing less than the will to war by the industrialized world. The Quiet Girl is a masterful, inventive novel that marks the triumphal return of one of the great writers of the international literary world.

A mysterious order of nuns promises Kaspar Krone, a circus clown with a gambling debt and wanted for tax evasion, a reprieve from the authorities in exchange for his help in safeguarding children with mystical abilities--talents that he also shares.